The Pentagram Bloc (Any Tech, Alliance)

[Afalia]

Having read over the act I recommend a number of steps. First diplomatic pressure to get them to reverse and repeal that stupid legislation. If they still refuse then kick them out. If they still refuse after being removed from the bloc, then start imposing sanctions and gradually increase them the longer they keep the law.

[Bedford Isles]

OOC: I figured starting a new thread was preferable to gravedigging. If I was wrong, could a mod please let me know?

IC:

Olwe is looking for friends, both old and new, to help us restore an alliance to which we used to belong, The Pentagram Bloc. We are hoping that by reuniting against imperialism and theocratic tyranny, we can defend the sovereignty of other nations as this alliance used to years ago.

The Pentagram Bloc was first formed after the Dekerin War of Liberation, in which the then-theocratic (they have since undergone a regime change and become a trusted ally) Egalitarian Akros invaded Dekerin Domains and attempted to force them to convert to The Duality of Equals (the rather prudish Akrosian state religion, which was so moralistic Olwe mistook it for a Christian faith). Olwe, Macureus, The Vorindun and Draconia Magna banded together with the Dekerins to fight off the invaders, and afterward it was decided that the alliance would remain permanent and we would defend the sovereignty of other nations who were going through similar ordeals. As we went into battle on the behalf of several other countries, our reputation grew and our ranks swelled as other like-minded nations joined us. To this day, the Pentagram Bloc has never lost a military engagement that at least 2 of its member nations were involved in.

The Pentagram Bloc has also had a long history of standing firmly against slavery, and is willing to work with other anti-slavery nations or groups in order to see the abhorrent practice ended once and for all.

Decisions are usually made in this very thread in an open-forum discussion, but if a decision cannot be reached by the group as a whole then the Council of Five -- the five longest-standing members of the alliance, which would currently be Dekerin Domains, New Macureus, The Vorindun, Olwe and Antivictoria -- will hold a more private discussion session and try to come to a decision on the group's behalf.

If you would like to join the Pentagram Bloc, please fill out the short application form below (Note that previous members from the original incarnation are automatically "grandfathered in", unless they wish to opt out this time around; they may still fill out the application if they wish, though):

Nation Name:
National Leader:
Population:
Do you hereby pledge that you do not and will never practice slavery, forced religious conversion of other nations and/or regional raiding?

OOC comments are welcome, I'm definitely interested in getting this thread right.

Will the Penal Services be banned?

[Olwe]

Will the Penal Services be banned?

Penal Services? If you're sentencing criminals to hard labor but keeping it in-country, that's okay... if you're selling them, or buying other people, then that's not okay.

[The Rhythm Nation]

Having read over the act I recommend a number of steps. First diplomatic pressure to get them to reverse and repeal that stupid legislation. If they still refuse then kick them out. If they still refuse after being removed from the bloc, then start imposing sanctions and gradually increase them the longer they keep the law.

We're with Afalia on this... it actually kind of scares us that our membership in this group is more tenuous because we're a democracy. If the Church Party won a majority here, would we be having the same conversation about The Rhythm Nation?

Not that I wouldn't probably blow my brains out if the Church Party won. But still, it's kind of extreme to kick a nation out over a democratic regime change.

President Eric Johnson

[Indian Ocean Federation]

Nation Name: Indian Ocean Federation
National Leader: Ikshit Devi
Population: 1,637,936,745
Do you hereby pledge that you do not and will never practice slavery, forced religious conversion of other nations and/or regional raiding?: Aye!

[Olwe]

Nation Name: Indian Ocean Federation
National Leader: Ikshit Devi
Population: 1,637,936,745
Do you hereby pledge that you do not and will never practice slavery, forced religious conversion of other nations and/or regional raiding?: Aye!

Thank you for applying. I'll wait until tomorrow morning to see if anyone has any serious objections (not that I'm expecting any, since we haven't had any in 3 years and even when we did, they didn't prevent the nation in question from being accepted), and then you're in.

[Indian Ocean Federation]

If I get accepted to the alliance, are we allowed to purchase slaves if we free them? Immediately after purchase?

[Olwe]

If I get accepted to the alliance, are we allowed to purchase slaves if we free them? Immediately after purchase?

If I understand your question correctly, you're asking if you can purchase slaves for the purpose of freeing them, right? That's allowed as far as I know, since it's a step taken against slavery... still, it's putting money into the hands of slaver nations, which is rewarding them for selling slaves, which is why Olwe never does it.

But if you're allowed to kill slaves in order to free them -- which Olwe does, as we'll sink or blow up ships if we're prevented from boarding them -- then I'd say you're probably safe to buy them in order to free them as well.

BTW, you're accepted as a full member now. Let me go update the list to reflect that, so that it's official.

[Wisconsin9]

Nation Name: The Communist State of Wisconsin
National Leader: Anton Vasiliev
Population: 540,601,565
Do you hereby pledge that you do not and will never practice slavery, forced religious conversion of other nations and/or regional raiding? Yes.

[Olwe]

Nation Name: The Communist State of Wisconsin
National Leader: Anton Vasiliev
Population: 540,601,565
Do you hereby pledge that you do not and will never practice slavery, forced religious conversion of other nations and/or regional raiding? Yes.

You're in. I'll update the member list accordingly.

[Nyte]

Nation Name: The Interstellar Empire of Nyte
National Leader: Conrad Curze
Population: 51+ Billion
Do you hereby pledge that you do not and will never practice slavery, forced religious conversion of other nations and/or regional raiding? Yes

Preferred Tech Level: FT (although some FanT elements are OK as well - I'll accept magic, psionics, elves, dragons, ponies, etc.).

[Olwe]

Nation Name: Nyte
National Leader: Conrad Curze
Population: Do you mean RP or the actual NS population?

RP, if it's different from the NS one.

Please note that Nyte is currently undergoing a transformation into a FT nation.

Cool. Olwe and Zuni are FT nations as well, and I've RPed with some of these other nations in FT threads (but have also seen them post in MT and PMT; a lot of us are fairly flexible, tech-wise).

Also, you're in.

[Nyte]

Cool.
51,000,000,000+ (RP) Population




*Updated population to reflect current numbers*

[Antanera]

Nation Name: The Matriarchy of Antanera
National Leader: Queen Penthesilea
Population: 1 billion (unless you would like I can stick to the NS pop counter)
Do you hereby pledge that you do not and will never practice slavery, forced religious conversion of other nations and/or regional raiding? We are adamantly opposed to such actions

[Faroslan]

Nation Name: The Holy Empire of Faroslan
National Leader: Pharaoh Ramses XIX
Population: 800 million
Do you hereby pledge that you do not and will never practice slavery, forced religious conversion of other nations and/or regional raiding? Absolutely

[Olwe]

Nation Name: The Matriarchy of Antanera
National Leader: Queen Penthesilea
Population: 1 billion (unless you would like I can stick to the NS pop counter)

Refer to my conversation with Nyte above... it's fine if you RP a different population than the one listed in game stats. I actually RP with less people than the stated population, since the zombie apocalypse became IC canon in Olwe.

Do you hereby pledge that you do not and will never practice slavery, forced religious conversion of other nations and/or regional raiding? We are adamantly opposed to such actions

You're in.

[Olwe]

Nation Name: The Holy Empire of Faroslan
National Leader: Pharaoh Ramses XIX
Population: 800 million
Do you hereby pledge that you do not and will never practice slavery, forced religious conversion of other nations and/or regional raiding? Absolutely

Since I've been allied with you for a few years now and this is just formalizing that, I don't have to wait for others to speak up before allowing you in either... in fact, some of the old-timers are probably already familiar with you.

[The Rhythm Nation]

Nation Name: The Holy Empire of Faroslan
National Leader: Pharaoh Ramses XIX
Population: 800 million
Do you hereby pledge that you do not and will never practice slavery, forced religious conversion of other nations and/or regional raiding? Absolutely

Since I've been allied with you for a few years now and this is just formalizing that, I don't have to wait for others to speak up before allowing you in either... in fact, some of the old-timers are probably already familiar with you.

Yeah, I remember Faroslan. You were in the Swarm thread, right?

[Faroslan]

Since I've been allied with you for a few years now and this is just formalizing that, I don't have to wait for others to speak up before allowing you in either... in fact, some of the old-timers are probably already familiar with you.

Yeah, I remember Faroslan. You were in the Swarm thread, right?

Indeed we were.
Thanks Olwe

[Olwe]

Yeah, I remember Faroslan. You were in the Swarm thread, right?

Indeed we were.
Thanks Olwe

No prob, Bob.

[The Rhythm Nation]

Just letting all my allies who haven't weighed in yet know that there's a presidential election going on in The Rhythm Nation. If you want to cast a vote, go for it.

Also, since I have a pony candidate and can also think of at least one pony nation that would fit in really well with this alliance and its intention of militarily policing oppressors and slavers, I think now would be the time to address what our stance on allowing Ponyists in will be. You know, just in case the aforementioned Urmanian applies for membership.

[Olwe]

Just letting all my allies who haven't weighed in yet know that there's a presidential election going on in The Rhythm Nation. If you want to cast a vote, go for it.

Already did. Surprised that among the others only Zuni has voted so far... bit strange, that.

Also, since I have a pony candidate and can also think of at least one pony nation that would fit in really well with this alliance and its intention of militarily policing oppressors and slavers, I think now would be the time to address what our stance on allowing Ponyists in will be. You know, just in case the aforementioned Urmanian applies for membership.

I'm okay with ponies as long as everyone else is -- technically, Olwe would be considered a Ponyist state since we have a Pony population -- but I understand they're controversial and I'd like it to be more of a group decision.

[Zuni]

I'm okay with ponies as long as everyone else is -- technically, Olwe would be considered a Ponyist state since we have a Pony population -- but I understand they're controversial and I'd like it to be more of a group decision.

Seconded. Long as nobody else has a problem, we got no problem here either... like Rhythm Nation said, Urmanian would fit right in here. Shame to keep such a perfect candidate out just because he's running a Pony state.

[Wisconsin9]

I gotta admit, I had completely forgotten that this exists.

Anyway, fine with ponies. My country's got a few of them, although they haven't actually appeared IC yet and can easily be forgotten about if there's a problem.

[Olwe]

I gotta admit, I had completely forgotten that this exists.

Anyway, fine with ponies. My country's got a few of them, although they haven't actually appeared IC yet and can easily be forgotten about if there's a problem.

Been a while since it was used for anything... The Rhythm Nation and I were talking and decided to rectify that. If you look on this thread's OP, there's a brand-new form for nations under military duress to request aid from us now so we can get back to what we were doing in the War of Liberation era. Of course, not every nation in the alliance will participate in every military engagement... still, a few of us throw down on a fairly regular basis and would like some of that action to be Bloc-oriented for a change.

So... anyway, that's 4 votes total for allowing Pony nations so far, 0 against. Let's see who else wants to weigh in, give it a week or so, before deciding that the ayes have it just in case they actually don't, but it's looking good so far.